This is one of my personal properties near downtown Gatlinburg.

Currently we have about 1 year of expenses in the bank for our STR.

Adding a personal touch, like a handwritten note, can increase response rates.

These are very personal decisions.I can't tell you how many times I had a seller pay me to go in and redo kitchens and baths, and then get called back by the new buyer to redo the brand new custom work....just because of color.I would just put the house on the market and price it a little high, maybe $20k...?

So it needs to be balanced out and not by the same person.

Add that they have bank financing as well and you are an unsecured creditor behind a lender....  

If you can go to some in person, all the better, but even just looking up FB groups for investors in that area or even "real estate" in that area. 

Once you prove to the owner that you are reliable they are very likely to convert to seller financing.You don't need a real estate agent and you don't need to use bank financing to buy your rental portfolio.  

I have heard that if you have a property under an LLC, you should definitely have a separate business bank account and credit card for each property but not sure if I should already do that when the property is personally owned.

So personal preference and your goals.